EC puts long summer holiday under a cloud

One of Europe's great traditions, which sees to it that much of the continent shuts down for the summer, is under threat. Officials in Brussels have decided that the long summer break should come to an end if the EU is to compete in the world.

Neelie Kroes, the commissioner for competition, told a European parliamentary committee, yesterday: "We can't permit in Europe a situation where for three months in the summer we don't function because of the holidays. The serious economic situation in Europe really pushes us to do better. Everybody needs holidays, but we can spread it [out]."

Her plan would have a devastating impact in France, which practically shuts down for August. The summer tradition of gridlocked roads on the first weekend in the month, when the entire country goes on holiday, would end. Life in Paris would never be the same again. Adulterers, who bank on a two-week window in the capital before joining their families on holiday, would find their plans disrupted.

But even the French are debating whether they can afford their lazy long holidays. La rentrée this year, when life slowly resumed at the beginning of September, was dominated by debates about whether old habits should change. Dominique de Villepin, the aristocratic prime minister who appeared to embody the old ways, set an example by shortening his holiday in Brittany.